New from NorCal with a recent free gas grill in need of restoration


 
LMichaels said:
Just swap the older one. I have done this more than a few times never had anyone refuse or charge extra. Blue Rhino (or whoever) simply will replace the older style valve and recert the tank. Slam bam thank you mam
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Thanks, I will do likewise. Previously where I have lived, the you paid a bond and the bottles were all owned by the company, you just borrowed them.
 
Our local Wal-mart has Blue Rhino and mine does not inspect the exchanged tanks in any way. Also Blue Rhino is currently offering a rebate on an exchange. It's just $3, but every little bit helps right? I'd swap that old tank for a newer one with them. Pull the plastic cover off as they promote rust at the seam. Then get my refills at Tractor Supply or somewhere similar.
 
Turns out there was a little gas left in one bottle, so I had a chance to test the burners.

The front one went great, the middle one needed a little clean to get the flame to travel along the whole length, and the back one went fine. I'd imagine that the flame would have bypassed the marginal holes if I'd have the flavor bars in. So no need to drop $50 on new burners!!

I'll still swap out the 1996 bottle this weekend, hopefully for a half decent bottle from this decade :)

I removed the sleeve off the AmeriGas bottle too, after the comment that the plastic sleeves trap water and promote rust.

thanks all,

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1996 bottle swapped for a 2005 bottle that I think has been re-certified?

Interesting that it's also had a respray it seems too.

Not exactly a ''new'' bottle, but an empty 20 year old bottle with the old knob on it was turned into a full 11 year old bottle with the current style valve.

This is the re-cert I guess? Done in 2015? Or is this something different? The bottle, if it is an 05, doesnt have to get tested until next year ..

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This arrived today. Tried it, without sealing compound, and it leaked. So having to buy some sealing compound. I've read that the Oatey Great Blue is a good choice?

I guess even if I'd bought a new regulator with the updated fitting and hose, I'd need the sealing compound anyway?

Time to see if I can work out what the sizes are for all the bolts/screws, and order stainless ones.

Thanks

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Agree with Jeff. The yellow teflon tape is the best way to go. It won't deteriorate or get hard. Also, the yellow teflon tape is thicker than the white teflon tape. Good luck.
 
Hey Steve,
RC Plane Buyer sells the z brackets for the shelves, side shelf and the bottom. I just bought 4 from him last week. Send him an email on ebay.

Bobby
 
Finally had some good weather and spare time align, so the 1300 is starting the transformation.

Upon further inspection;
1) There was a black widow living under the control panel. Gone now.
2) The tank scale doesn't move freely, and I cannot find a specific DIY on how to best fix that up
3) 20 years of baked on grease is nasty. Im thinking I should have actually run the grill at max heat on a hot day to try to burn the grease off a little first.
4) Theres some frame rush, just surface, but will have to fix.

I'm using simple green, a scrubbing brush, a plastic putty knife and some steel wool. It is very slow progress! I've taken the lid off, removed thermometer, and started to remove the burners. I'll hopefully get it all into parts tomorrow.

Now, can I use a metal putty knife without scratching the lid?
Is there a DIY on the bottle scale? I don't want to spent $30 on a new one. (I am currently not working, so want to devote as much of the project costs to the RCplaner grates/z-brackets and bars.
I see http://www.ereplacementparts.com/shroud-hardware-p-1476221.html has the shroud hardware for $5.72. Is that really all the bolts as shown? Anyone found a simple/cheap way to get stainless instead?

I'm going to keep a few parts that should probably be replaced, as I can replace later without disassembly. The bottom of the fire box, the bracket for the catch tray, the knobs, the main wheels etc. Keep the costs down for now anyways.

Thanks,

(pictures soon).
 
Hi Steven

That grill will be a beaut.

I too was inspired by Jeff's hardware (pun) and wanted to do it up right. I ended up doing a takeoff of all the required stuff out of the owner's manual, adding the shroud endcap bolts (not pictured in the manual!), and sourcing them all from McMaster Carr, which is now my second favorite website on the whole internet.

Here is my picklist and budget:

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I was going to replace the hardware on my Summit project with SS and remember seeing that list before. Thanks for the refresher!
 
I'd use one of those razor scrapers where you can replace the razor blades. That's the only thing that worked on the inside of my lid. A regular paint scraper isn't sharp enough. It didn't damage my lid. I kept the same parts you did. You might just try some pb blaster on the scale to free it up. I wouldn't attempt taking it apart. It's got a pretty strong spring and is mostly riveted. I did that and then taped the label and painted it. I found most of my hardware at lowes. I ripped of some of Xaviers list for things I couldn't find there.

The lid hardware is ok if you want to reuse the bolts. I opted to replace them so I ditched the speed nuts for lock washers, washers and nuts. I bought some black oxide stainless tapered Allen head screws from McMaster carr. I'll try to look up the part number.

Edit for pn: Black-Oxide 18-8 Stainless Steel Hex Drive Flat Head Screws. 1/4"-20 5/8" Long. 93791A552.
They come in packs of 25 for 5.53.
 
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Dustin Dorsey said:
I'd use one of those razor scrapers where you can replace the razor blades. That's the only thing that worked on the inside of my lid. A regular paint scraper isn't sharp enough. It didn't damage my lid. I kept the same parts you did. You might just try some pb blaster on the scale to free it up. I wouldn't attempt taking it apart. It's got a pretty strong spring and is mostly riveted. I did that and then taped the label and painted it. I found most of my hardware at lowes. I ripped of some of Xaviers list for things I couldn't find there.

The lid hardware is ok if you want to reuse the bolts. I opted to replace them so I ditched the speed nuts for lock washers, washers and nuts. I bought some black oxide stainless tapered Allen head screws from McMaster carr. I'll try to look up the part number.

Edit for pn: Black-Oxide 18-8 Stainless Steel Hex Drive Flat Head Screws. 1/4"-20 5/8" Long. 93791A552.
They come in packs of 25 for 5.53.
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Thanks for the info everyone. I have now finished the disassembly, and cleaned a lot more off. I've switched to a metal putty knife, but will grab a razor blade scraper when I'm next near the hardware store. I'll do my bolt order this weekend. One bolt snapped upon removal, and I plan to at least replace any bolt for which there exists an identical stainless alternative.

My bad news though, is the the frame has some serious rust. The left hand side, the member that goes next to the fire box between the front and back, it rusted beyond repair. I'll see if my father-in-law can help weld in a replacement section.

Priorities now are to 1) fix the frame, 2) clean the outside of the fire box and the ends of the lid (which is disassembled) so that I can paint them. Then I'm just going to put it back together so that I can use it this summer. I can see why the previous owner left it behind when moving out. I feel that come fall, I'll look for a better condition unit to rebuild anyway. With that I'm doing to this one, it'll probably last another 20 years, but will not look as perfect as I'd like.

As for the bottle scale, sounds like I'll just clean it up a little and bolt it back on. I've never had one before, and would rather put the $30 towards other parts.

Thanks all.
 
Further progress (I'm a stay at home dad with a 2 year old, so I never get more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time for my projects), I removed the brackets that hold the pan under the fire box (Z-brackets?). They're heavily rusted, but are still mechanically usable, and can be replaced at a later date with minimal disassembly).

I have used an ultrasonic cleaner loaded with degreaser on all the bolts, and then stopped the rust with vinegar. Surprisingly, many cleaned up really well. I'll still be ordering a good number of parts, but not a crazy amount. Now I did put the bottle scale in the cleaner. I know that it'll clean out grease and rust, but I figured what the heck. Well, it's freed it up a lot. I'm going to look more closely at how to disassemble it. I understand that in production there is often a special tool or jig which enables assembly, so this could be a mistake. I really don't mind if I end up with just a simple hook there though.

Xavier G, are the Weber prices you have direct from Weber, or somewhere else? They're cheaper than some online places I've been looking at.

If I'm to go RCPlaner, I'm now up for:

1) Grates $120
2) Bars $80
3) Z-brackets $?
4) dura-wood holding z-brackets $?

As said earlier, probably just run old parts for this summer and upgrade later. I definitely need grates and bars though ... so need to find $200 for that and about $50 for misc parts and screws pretty quickly.
 
Those are OEM Weber parts from Weber mothership. Some of the items didn't show up on their website as orderable but when I called customer service they hooked me up. Came as one big box with a bunch of individual part numbered boxes inside.



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Steven, this is what you need for the pan holder rails
www.grillparts.com/weber/genesis.asp?product_id=97783

I'm not saying buy it from them, but I find that website has good prices. If yours are steel, I'd replace them. If they are just heavily oxidized aluminum like mine I'd keep them. If you reuse the screws make sure and use some anti-seize compound before putting them back in. Some people find them seized up and impossible to remove without drilling them out
 
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